Metadata

• Name: Dr. Ryan Rezek 
• Position: Assistant Professor
• Organization: Coastal Carolina University
• Address: 301 Allied Dr.
  Conway, SC 29576 United States
• Email: rrezek@coastal.edu

Wetland food webs have often been characterized as detrital-based ‘brown’ energy pyramids, whereas the relative role of autotrophic (‘green’) vs. microbial (‘brown’) energy sources falls along a continuum set by physical drivers, as well as autochthonous and allochthonous inputs (Moore et al. 2004; Evans-White & Halvorson 2017) that change with ecosystem development (Schmitz et al. 2006). In the Florida Coastal Everglades (FCE), metabolic imbalances, including the collapse of calcareous periphyton mats, begin with a loss of foundation species primary production and legacy organic matter (Gaiser et al. 2006). This process likely enhances heterotrophic microbial productivity (Schulte 2016) and the supply of detrital energy to consumers by changing bioavailable and recalcitrant carbon supplies (Baggett et al. 2013). A shift from complex periphyton communities to transient planktonic communities under elevated P exposure reduces habitat structure and animal refuges but increases ‘green’ energy supplies and edibility (Trexler et al. 2015; Naja et al. 2017). Multiple sites (n=9) within the FCE were selected to document changes in coastal food webs as a result of eutrophication and increasing hydrologic variability. The project began in 2019 and is currently ongoing.

References:
Baggett, L. P., Heck, K. L., Frankovich, T. A., Armitage, A. R., & Fourqurean, J. W. (2013). Stoichiometry, growth, and fecundity responses to nutrient enrichment by invertebrate grazers in sub-tropical turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum) meadows. Marine biology, 160, 169-180.
Evans-White, M. A., and H. M. Halvorson. 2017. Comparing the Ecological Stoichiometry in Green and Brown Food Webs – A Review and Meta-analysis of Freshwater Food Webs. Frontiers in Microbiology 8:1184.
Gaiser, E. E., Childers, D. L., Jones, R. D., Richards, J. H., Scinto, L. J., & Trexler, J. C. (2006). Periphyton responses to eutrophication in the Florida Everglades: cross‐system patterns of structural and compositional change. Limnology and Oceanography, 51(1part2), 617-630.
Moore, J. C., E. L. Berlow, D. C. Coleman, P. C. Ruiter, Q. Dong, A. Hastings, N. C. Johnson, K. S. McCann, K. Melville, P. J. Morin, K. Nadelhoffer, A. D. Rosemond, D. M. Post, J. L. Sabo, K. M. Scow, M. J. Vanni, and D. H. Wall. 2004. Detritus, trophic dynamics and biodiversity: Detritus, trophic dynamics and biodiversity. Ecology Letters 7:584–600.
Naja, M., Childers, D. L., & Gaiser, E. E. (2017). Water quality implications of hydrologic restoration alternatives in the Florida Everglades, United States. Restoration Ecology, 25, S48-S58.
Schmitz, O. J., Kalies, E. L., & Booth, M. G. (2006). Alternative dynamic regimes and trophic control of plant succession. Ecosystems, 9, 659-672.
Schulte, Nicholas O., "Controls on Benthic Microbial Community Structure and Assembly in a Karstic Coastal Wetland" (2016). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2447. 10.25148/etd.FIDC000233
Trexler, J. C., Gaiser, E. E., Kominoski, J. S., & Sanchez, J. (2015). The role of periphyton mats in consumer community structure and function in calcareous wetlands: lessons from the Everglades. Microbiology of the everglades ecosystem, 155-179.

Start Date:   2019
End Date:   2022

• Data Table:   Stable isotope values and nutrient content of consumers, producers, and organic matter in the FCE LTER
  Attribute Name:

  common_name

  Attribute Label:

  common name of the species

  Attribute Definition:

  common_name

  Storage Type:

  string

  Measurement Scale:

  text

  Missing Value Code:

   

  
  

  Attribute Name:

  species_name

  Attribute Label:

  species scientific name

  Attribute Definition:

  species_name

  Storage Type:

  string

  Measurement Scale:

  text

  Missing Value Code:

  NA (not applicable)

  
  

  Attribute Name:

  season

  Attribute Label:

  season in which sampling took place

  Attribute Definition:

  sampling_season

  Storage Type:

  string

  Measurement Scale:

  text

  Missing Value Code:

   

  
  

  Attribute Name:

  year

  Attribute Label:

  year

  Attribute Definition:

  year

  Storage Type:

  dateTime

  Measurement Scale:

  Missing Value Code:

   

  
  

  Attribute Name:

  site

  Attribute Label:

  sampling site

  Attribute Definition:

  site

  Storage Type:

  string

  Measurement Scale:

  text

  Missing Value Code:

   

  
  

  Attribute Name:

  d13C

  Attribute Label:

  d13C VPDB x 1000

  Attribute Definition:

  Delta 13 Carbon

  Storage Type:

  float

  Measurement Scale:

  Units: partsPerThousand
  

  Number Type: real

  Missing Value Code:

  -9999 (Sample pending analysis)

  
  

  Attribute Name:

  d15N

  Attribute Label:

  d15N AIR x 1000

  Attribute Definition:

  Delta 15 Nitrogen

  Storage Type:

  float

  Measurement Scale:

  Units: partsPerThousand
  

  Number Type: real

  Missing Value Code:

  -9999 (Sample pending analysis)

  
  

  Attribute Name:

  d34S

  Attribute Label:

  d34S

  Attribute Definition:

  Delta 34 Sulfur

  Storage Type:

  float

  Measurement Scale:

  Units: partsPerThousand
  

  Number Type: real

  Missing Value Code:

  -9999 (Sample pending analysis)

  
  

  Attribute Name:

  N_percent

  Attribute Label:

  Attribute Definition:

  percent nitrogen

  Storage Type:

  float

  Measurement Scale:

  Units: percent
  

  Number Type: real

  Missing Value Code:

  -9999 (Sample pending analysis)

  
  

  Attribute Name:

  C_percent

  Attribute Label:

  Attribute Definition:

  percent carbon

  Storage Type:

  float

  Measurement Scale:

  Units: percent
  

  Number Type: real

  Missing Value Code:

  -9999 (Sample pending analysis)

  
  

  Attribute Name:

  S_percent

  Attribute Label:

  Attribute Definition:

  percent sulfur

  Storage Type:

  float

  Measurement Scale:

  Units: partsPerThousand
  

  Number Type: real

  Missing Value Code:

  -9999 (Sample pending analysis)